Weinberg: Extra money makes a huge difference in student outcomes - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools

Weinberg: Extra money makes a huge difference in student outcomes - The Education Report - Katy Murphy's blog on Oakland schools:

Weinberg: Extra money makes a huge difference in student outcomes

By Katy Murphy
Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 11:25 pm in Uncategorized.

Steven Weinberg, a retired Oakland teacher and Education Report contributor, makes a case for the Proposition 30 tax initiative on the November ballot.

Does providing schools with more money lead to improvements in student achievement?

The experience of Oakland middle schools over the last three years shows that it does.

Several years ago four Oakland middle schools with test scores in the lowest 20 percent of state schools received multiyear grants of $900 per student to reduce class sizes and fund other improvements. The grants were not given to all schools in the lowest 20 percent because the state wanted to be able to compare differences in improvement between those schools that received the extra money and those that did not.

After three years the differences in Oakland’s middle schools are dramatic. The